In the days Shantelle and I roamed Scotland we had so much fun and even encountered a fruit mostly associated with palm trees and tropical beaches: Coconuts.
Our second destination of our road trip was legendary Doune Castle and although I have never seen Monty Python's Holy Grail movie (Shock! Horror! I know!) I asked the kind museum clerk for coconut shells. We found out that she hides them from pesky tourists such as myself under the counter, so now you know where to find them.
Next to being a national monument the castle is currently being used in the filming of the series 'Outlander' based on Diana Gabaldon's books. Now I hold Shantelle responsible for getting me addicted to these books. While I was still in university they certainly helped me procrastinate writing academic papers immensely. It's been a while since I've read them and although I love devouring 700 page books they don't always fit in one's rucksack. After traveling for the last three years I have loved and lost many books due to airline luggage restrictions and surprisingly not many Arabic countries have an English language library or book exchange stocked with erotica so I've had some dry patches where my inner bookworm cried and shriveled up. Shantelle came to N-Ireland bearing amazing gifts: A highly portable, lightweight magical eReader! With tons and tons of Diana Gabaldon on it and many other books! She also brought me her digital camera so that I could take pictures again (my last camera bit the dust), and patiently guided me through my technophobic tendencies and showed me how to use both. I am still floored.
But back to the coconuts.
Although I had previously told my friend Vee that it was called Thistly Thorny Plant Thingy when she asked me what that yellow Broom-like plant was, Blair informed me that it was actually called Gorse and during our visit it was blooming everywhere in Scotland: A bright yellow flower blanket coveted by bees and mindful of the sharp thorns we leaned in and sniffed the flowers.
It smelled exactly like coconuts.
A day later Shantelle spoiled me with a three hour horseback ride through the gorgeous Scottish hills and at some point the horses took a break, munching on the Thistly Thorn Thingy whose delicious coconut fragrance will now forever remind me of Scotland and the most amazing great friends.
Our second destination of our road trip was legendary Doune Castle and although I have never seen Monty Python's Holy Grail movie (Shock! Horror! I know!) I asked the kind museum clerk for coconut shells. We found out that she hides them from pesky tourists such as myself under the counter, so now you know where to find them.
Next to being a national monument the castle is currently being used in the filming of the series 'Outlander' based on Diana Gabaldon's books. Now I hold Shantelle responsible for getting me addicted to these books. While I was still in university they certainly helped me procrastinate writing academic papers immensely. It's been a while since I've read them and although I love devouring 700 page books they don't always fit in one's rucksack. After traveling for the last three years I have loved and lost many books due to airline luggage restrictions and surprisingly not many Arabic countries have an English language library or book exchange stocked with erotica so I've had some dry patches where my inner bookworm cried and shriveled up. Shantelle came to N-Ireland bearing amazing gifts: A highly portable, lightweight magical eReader! With tons and tons of Diana Gabaldon on it and many other books! She also brought me her digital camera so that I could take pictures again (my last camera bit the dust), and patiently guided me through my technophobic tendencies and showed me how to use both. I am still floored.
But back to the coconuts.
Although I had previously told my friend Vee that it was called Thistly Thorny Plant Thingy when she asked me what that yellow Broom-like plant was, Blair informed me that it was actually called Gorse and during our visit it was blooming everywhere in Scotland: A bright yellow flower blanket coveted by bees and mindful of the sharp thorns we leaned in and sniffed the flowers.
It smelled exactly like coconuts.
A day later Shantelle spoiled me with a three hour horseback ride through the gorgeous Scottish hills and at some point the horses took a break, munching on the Thistly Thorn Thingy whose delicious coconut fragrance will now forever remind me of Scotland and the most amazing great friends.
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| Doune Castle amid daffodils |
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| Yep. We did. |
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| Gorse in bloom |
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